President Herman B. Wells calls for creation of a research computing center because "Many complicated problems in the physical, biological, and social sciances, in business, and in education require the employement of modern high-speed computing machines for practical solution."

Thomas Sterling and D. Martin Swany were recruited to IU as Professor in School of Informatics & Computing and Principal Scientist, Office of the Vice President for Information Technology. Von Welch was also recruited (2011)